Indian pay TV platforms look for investors

Research shows that India's TV market is expected to experience growth in all sectors until 2013. The Indian economy is weathering the worldwide downturn far better than almost any major country and is forecast to grow 4.3 per cent in 2009 and 6.5 per cent the following year; lower than past rates, but much better than Western Europe and the US. Screen Digest predict that the TV market will see growth too â€“ with the number of TV households rising from 133 million last year to 191 million by 2013, outstripping increases in the population and households in the same period.

Analogue cable TV accounted for 89 per cent of all pay TV homes in 2008 and roughly 60,000 operators. Screen Digest believes it will increase its subscriber base from 80 million to 113 million by 2013. Yet despite its large base the researcher forecasts slow conversion to digital. With its affluent middle class audience, satellite is perhaps the more attractive prospect, not just for operators including Dish TV, Sun Direct TV, Big TV, Airtel Digital TV and Tata Sky, but also for the wider media industry due to its transparency in reporting. At the end of 2008 these players accounted for 10 million all-digital households, up from 750,000 in 2005.

IPTV services are also set to expand as Screen Digest estimates broadband penetration of TV households to increase from 4.2 per cent at present to 13.4 per cent in 2013. At present IPTV is hardly making an impact in the market.